Directional microphones are well known in the art. Such microphones are capable of converting sound received by the microphone into electrical signals, while being more sensitive to sounds from the direction in which they are pointed than from other directions. This allows the directional microphone to be used to pick up sound primarily from specific sources or locations, to the exclusion of sounds from other directions, depending on the direction the microphone is pointed. Examples of such microphones include a shotgun microphone or a parabolic microphone.
In other types of directional microphone systems, arrays of microphones are arranged, and a directionally sensitive effect can be achieved by processing the outputs of the collective array to arrive at a signal representative of the sound received from the desired direction. In some applications, such microphones may be used to ‘map’ the sound from a general direction, and isolate which specific direction certain sounds are coming from.
However, for each of these types of directional microphones, thoughtful and deliberate input or handling is required by an operator to determine which direction to point or direct the microphone. Embodiments of the invention provide solutions to these and other problems.